Just One
by LemonBubble
Summary: A fan is tossed into the Discworld and discovers the power of a single piece of paper.
1. Lost in Lspace

Avalina was a normal teenager. She hung out with her friends, she went to school and she had a part-time job in a bookstore. She had green eyes, brown hair, a fairly average face and was in all a pretty average kind of a girl. She was also a fan of the Discworld series which, in the end, turned out to be a good thing.

One day after school, she was at work when the owner of the store asked her to get something from the back of the shop. Avalina had never been in the back before, but, rather than ask where to find everything, she went for the classic method of blundering about until you found what you wanted. So, she blundered, wondering why it was so dark, what it was she was looking for and how far 'the back' went. Gradually, things grew lighter. There were shelves of books here that went... through each other? Avalina shook her head and carried on blundering.

She found a shelf and picked a book off at random. It was called 'The Two-Faced Hog, and Other Folk Dances' and was written by... W. M. Longpelt? She looked inside. There was a photo of Mr. Longpelt. He appeared to be a wolf with glasses on. Avalina frowned an put the book back. She wandered on until she was in a well lit... space, mainly in primary colours. It couldn't have been a room because usually a room has walls that you can see. There were bookshelves everywhere. Some passed through others and some were invisible in places, like they were in other dimensions. Avalina felt oddly as though there were invisible bits of her in other dimensions as well. It was unnerving to say the least.

"If I didn't know any better," she said out loud, "I'd say this was L-space." The noise attracted attention. Avalina heard a rustling and dived aside, just avoiding being trampled by the spooked herd. "Were those... thesauruses?" she whispered to herself. A movement caught her attention. There was a simian face peering over one of the shelves. She stood up and the face ducked down. Avalina guessed who it was, wildly hoped she was right and called out "Hey, Mr. Librarian!"

She ran over to where he had been, but he was gone. Again she spotted him looking. She ran over to him. "Mr. Librarian, please!" she called after him. This time she got to the stop and saw him retreating further into - there could be no denying it anymore - L-space. She followed, in hopes of coming out somewhere she knew.

"I need your help!" Avalina yelled after the orangutan. "I don't have any string!" This was beginning to irritate her. Why didn't he just stop and point her in the right direction? It couldn't be that hard, could it? Avalina ran, no breath left to yell, and tripped on a ball of paper, which rolled away grumbling. She thumped the ground in frustration. "Why can't you just help you stupid monkey?!" she yelled, instantly regretting it and really, really hoping that he hadn't heard her.

No avenging hairy figure appeared to bounce her on her head. Avalina suddenly felt very lonely. It was hard not to in this empty place with only paper and books to talk to. She picked herself up off the ground and walked in the direction that the Librarian had disappeared into. She didn't know how long she walked or where she was. The place begin to get on her nerves. Soon she was really angry, with L-space, with the Librarian and mostly with herself for getting lost in the first place.

Avalina didn't pay attention to where she was going anymore. She just walked, grumbling to herself and kicking the ground. She turned and punched a bookshelf, which turned out to not be there. Unable to stop herself, Avalina fell forward into the dirt that had suddenly replaced the bright colours of L-space.

---

Note: I'm not copying goblindreamer, honest. xP


	2. Fooling Thieves

I apologise in advance for any geographical errors. I don't have a mapp D:

---

Avalina picked herself up off the ground. Already a group of men had sidled out of the shadows and encircled her. There were four of them, big ugly thugs every one. However, Avalina was too furious to take much notice.

"Where the hell am I!?" she yelled at one of them. He looked surprised, like a sheep had bitten him.

"About halfway down Sweetheart Lane." he answered and, seeing his chance, added "...sweetheart." He won a snigger from his friends. Avalina gave him a withering look.

"Oh, well done, you made a funny." Then she paused. "Sweetheart Lane? Oh gods... that's in the Shades isn't it?" She could _feel_ the leering grins of the two behind her.

"That's right..." said the one who had done all the talking, possibly the leader. Avalina thought fast, trying to remember some streets. They would start closing in any second now. Ah. She smiled brightly.

"Which way is Short Street? No, wait, Elm... no that's not it... Ah! Which way it Treacle Mine Road?"

"Other end of the Shades, missy." said the leader, pointing.

"Damn..." They started closing in, at which point Avalina thought very fast and, dodging between two of the thugs, ran as fast as she could _away_ from where the leader had pointed. There was the general yelling that meant "You let her get away you idiot! After her!", and the pounding of feet. Avalina ran, almost blindly, trying to follow a straight path and avoiding any alleys. She looked behind her to see where they were. A fair distance, but still chasing. She looked forward again and saw the metal wall just before she hit it. Dazed, she looked up into the concerned face of... someone familier.

"Ah didn' know you lot 'trolla Shaes." she mumbled.

"We don't normally, but you're right on the edge." the wall said.

"Ah, jolly good then." Avalina passed out.


	3. In Which Carrot is Mistaken

Avalina woke up with a terrible headache. She groaned.

"Oh man, that was a weird dream..."

"What was it?" asked an unfamiliar voice.

"I dreamed I was in Di-" Avalina's eyes snapped open. Now she was properly awake she realised she was not in her bed, but on something hard and wooden. She looked up into the concerned face of... Captain Carrot? No way!

"Where am I? What happened??" Avalina demanded.

"You were running out of the Shades and you ran into me and knocked yourself out. You were out cold and hit me pretty hard, so I brought you back to the Yard and Igor could have a look at you." Carrot explained.

"I _thaid_ thee would be fine, captain. You didn't need to stay. Jutht a headache I expect mith?" Avalina rubbed her head. Listening to lisp was a lot harder than reading it.

"Uh, yeah, just a headache. Got any panodol?" she asked, sitting up. She realised immediately that she shouldn't have said it. Both Carrot and Igor looked puzzled, although it was hard to tell with Igor.

"Pan-o-doll?" Carrot asked.

"Never mind. Forget I said it." Carrot seemed to have something else on his mind though.

"Um, you're not from Four-Ecks are you?" Avalina went very still. "Only, your accent sounds Ecksian..." Avalina took a deep breath. They couldn't possibly know here, but it was still practically an insult. Then something small snapped inside of her. Here she was, on another world, in a different _universe_ and people made _the same mistake! _She let the breath out.

"NO, I am _not_ Bloody Ecksian!! I do _not_ sound Ecksian! There is a huge bloody difference between where I'm from and Four-Ecks! I am _not_ and Aussie! I'm a bloody New Zealander, and don't you forget it!!!" There is a special expression saved for when people act completely mad. Carrot wore it now.

"I'm sorry, I meant no offense." he said.

"Yeah, well, next time think before you speak." Avalina mumbled, knowing she'd overreacted. She rubbed her head.

"Well, I'll just go and... write a report... yes." Carrot said, heading for the stairs.

"Have you got anything to help my headache?" Avalina asked Igor.

"Thorry miss, I don't think tho."

"Hmm." Avalina sat on the table swinging her legs and wondering what to do. "Hey, um, this may seem like an odd question but, how do you pronounce Igor? Is it Eee-gor or Eye-gor?" Igor looked at her funny. At least, she thought he did.

"It'th Eye-gor."

"Oh. Damn."


	4. To The Library

Longer one this time :D Also, I found a mapp, so there shall be no further problems with geography.

---

Avalina soon got bored of watching Igor and headed up into the main room in Pseudopolis Yard. She was a little freaked out about being in another universe but just beneath that was a bubbling pit of excitement. She did her best not to squeal whenever she spotted a familiar character. There was Fred Colon, heading up the stairs, probably to see Vimes... O_h my gosh, Vimes is just up those stairs!!!_ she thought. That little monkey looking thing could be Nobby. She could hear someone yelling from the old lemonade factory across the road, probably Detritus training up some new recruits. And among all the bustle of the Yard, Avalina was just another person.

She felt like she stood out, like everyone could tell she was from somewhere different, but no one seemed to notice her. She sighed and, not knowing what else to do, just stood there, lost and a little scared. Someone walked up to her, and she blinked. Avalina had never seen a zombie before and they were a lot scarier than she'd imagined. Could this be Reg Shoe?

"Do you need any help miss?" he asked.

"Um, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm lost. I think I should go to the university, but I don't know where it is. Could you point me in the right direction?" Reg nodded.

"I think the fastest way is up Lower Broadway, across the Brass Bridge, along Turnwise Broadway, down The Maul, across the Plaza of Broken Moons and the University is in Sator Square." he noticed the blank look on Avalina's face and added, "I'm off duty at the moment. Would you like me to show you?" Avalina nodded gratefully and followed Reg along the route he had named to the Unseen University.

Once they got there Avalina thanked Reg, who disappeared into the city, and looked at the university. She had never really thought about what it looked like before, and it was big and ominous looking. She remembered that one of the books... ah yes, Equal Rites, had said that women weren't exactly allowed into the university... but that was years ago, wasn't it? Maybe things had changed a bit? The gates were open, and people were going in and out, admittedly mostly out, but they all seemed to be male. Ah well, nothing else for it. Avalina took a deep breath and walked through the gates, trying not to look too feminine, just in case. Good thing she was wearing trousers.

Not knowing where she was inside Unseen University seemed like a very bad idea, so, recalling that most people went to the university to go to the library, she picked someone and followed him. Fortunately for her, he was going to the library. Avalina entered the huge building, which got huger when she entered it. She was reminded of Doctor Who, and the whole 'bigger on the inside' thing, although she knew that here it was caused by L-space, which was more magic than science, so it was completely different.

"Well, now what?" she muttered to herself. She had got here through L-space, so surely that would be how she got out? But how to ask about it? She went up to the main desk where the Librarian was. There was also a very bad looking wizard, with the tell-tale hat that had 'Wizzard' embroidered on it. The Librarian looked at her and made a face.

"Ook." he said.

"What did he say?" Avalina asked Rincewind.

"He said you called him a stupid monkey." Avalina bit her lip. This was very bad. He must have heard her yell at him in L-space.

"Um, yeah, sorry about that. You wouldn't help me and I was annoyed." The Librarian pulled back his lips to reveal a mouth full of very large teeth. Avalina took a step back.

"Don't worry, that's him smiling. If he was angry you wouldn't still be standing there." Rincewind told her.

"Oh. Um. Good." she shuffled her feet, wondering how to ask. "Um. I suppose you know I'm not from here then?"

"Ook."

"Can you show me how to get back?"

"Ook." the Librarian shook his head. "Ook, ook." Avalina turned to Rincewind, wishing she could speak ook.

"No, you can't get back through here. You have to go back the way you came or it may have dire consequences on the space time continuinuum. We have to find out where you came out." Avalina was surprised. She knew the Librarian could say a lot with just 'ook' but she never knew exactly how much. Then she spotted something.

"We?" she asked innocently. Rincewind took a step back, waving his hands.

"No, no! Not me! He meant you and him! Not me! I'm staying here, where it's safe!"

"Ook."

"Well... safer than out there at least!"

"But I need someone to translate." Avalina stated, getting small delight out of tormenting the wizard.

"I'm not going! You might have come out in the Shades!"

"Well, since you mentioned it..." There was the sound of sandals flapping on the stone floor, but Rincewind wasn't moving. A soft leathery hand was wrapped around his wrist, preventing any forward movement.

"Ook." the Librarian said firmly.

"But..."

"Ook, ook."

"But..." the Librarian reached up and pulled Rincewind's hat off, to show just how serious he was.

"Ook."


	5. To The Shades

Avalina walked through the streets of Ankh-Morpork with a 300lb orangutan and a useless wizard for a translator. She was still a little freaked out about being in another universe, but she never thought she would ever be walking through the streets of Ankh-Morpork with Rincewind and the Librarian! This was awesome!!

"So, uh, where are we going?" she asked. The Librarian stopped.

"Ook." he said, sounding a little surprised. Avalina turned to Rincewind.

"You're supposed to be showing us where you came out of L-space."

"Oh. Right. Only, I have no idea where we are." The Librarian covered his face with his hand.

"Ook? Ook?"

"Do you have any idea where you came out? Did you see any signs or anything?"

"Well, actually, I was almost mugged but I had the time to find out my exact location." Avalina said, without even a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I was halfway down Sweetheart Lane." Rincewind whimpered, but the Librarian nodded and headed off in the opposite direction from where they had been heading.

"But... but that can't be right!" Rincewind whined, trying to avoid going to the Shades. "There aren't any books in the Shades!"

"I heard that even one word in the right place can make a hole in L-space."

"Ook."

"But if it was just a word, it'll be gone now, right?"

"Ook."

"But, a single piece of paper? In the Shades? It's probably been used by now. We should just go back to the library." Avalina turned on the cowardly wizard.

"Listen you! I'm not living the rest of my life in this little fantasy world of yours, you understand?" she hissed. "I'm going home, and I don't care if you have to go to the scariest place in the whole world, you're gonna help me get back, alright?" Rincewind nodded, all the thugs in the world seeming less scary than an enraged teenager right now, mostly since they weren't right in front of him. "Besides," she added, "With the Librarian here, no one will attack us. And anyone dumb enough to try will soon learn what natural selection is, won't they?"

"Ook." Rincewind sighed.

"I always end up helping. I want you to know, though, I'm only doing this for my hat." The Librarian was still holding Rincewind's hat hostage. "It's not like you really need me anyway, you'll soon start understanding him." he brightened up slightly. "And then I can go back, right?"

"Yup, you can go back to the university, all by yourself. Through the Shades."

"Oh. Maybe I'll just stay with you then."

"Good boy."


	6. An Extended Stay

Walking through the city was harder than the books made it seem. There were always carts to dodge, and alleys to avoid, and sometimes alleys to go into. And it was a hell of a long way. It seemed so easy in the books 'someone walked down this street, then this one, then through an alley and over a wall and there they were', but really the streets were a million miles long and the walls were forty metres high and everything was so much bigger than the books made it seem. They were walking across a whole _city_.

When they reached the Shades, Avalina was quite tired. She liked walking, but usually in small amounts. They found Sweetheart Lane, and Avalina managed to remember where she'd been standing. There was no paper. There were no bookstores, no books, not even a word written on the nearby walls.

"Ook. Ook." Avalina didn't even need to look a Rincewind. He'd gotten used to being the translator pretty quick.

"He says it must've been a really important piece of paper for it to make a hole big enough for you to get through." he said, "And we have to find it for you to get back without ripping the fabric of space and time." he added gloomily.

"So, what? I'm stuck here until we find this paper?" A nod from the Librarian confirmed this. "What am I supposed to do?" Avalina wailed, suddenly horrified at spending any more time in this world.

"I don't know. What did you do where you came from?"

"Went to school, made art and worked in a bookshop. What am I supposed to do here??"

"Ook."

"He said you could come back to the library. But you can't stay there."

"I don't think I'd want to with what I've heard about it." The Librarian gave her a Look and she added, "Nothing bad, of course. Just stuff about it being different because of the magic." Rincewind nodded.

"Not the sort of place anyone'd want to be at night."

"Ook."

"Apart from you."

"Seriously guys, it could be _weeks_ before we find this paper! What am I going to do? Where am I going to live? I've got no home, no money and no one knows me!"

"Well, that makes you one of the safest people in the city. If you've got no money, you won't get robbed. If you've got no home, you won't get robbed. And, if no one knows you, no one is trying to kill you. Now, can we please go back to the university?" Rincewind had been fidgeting since they entered the Shades, constantly looking into the shadows and occasionally whimpering. Avalina sighed.

"Yeah, lets get back. We're not going to find anything. Plus it's getting dark." they walked back to the university in gloomy silence, Rincewind miserably wondering if he'd been dragged into another adventure, the Librarian wondering about the paper, and Avalina considering her future on the back of a turtle. It didn't look very bright, or very long. She would have thought she would be delighted to be on the Disc, meeting her favourite characters and laughing at them, and generally having a good time. But that would only really be if she was there on her terms, and could get back any time she wanted.


	7. Lodgings

Back in the Library, Avalina considered her options. She wouldn't stay in the Library at night, although it might be fun. She knew no one and no where she could sleep. The books had been pretty hazy on places for bed and board. All she could think of now was Mrs Cake (but she didn't really want to stay with undead), and the Mended Drum (no WAY). She decided to look for a map, and then decided not to because she might get lost.

After an eternity, she finally decided to go back to Pseudopolis Yard and ask the Watch for help. After all, policemen were there to help, right? They'd know somewhere she could stay. Avalina decided it would be best to tell the Librarian. After all, he was the only one who knew how to get her back. Well, the only one who knew how to get her back in one piece. She told him.

"Ook, ook." he said, with some gestures that clearly explained that that was nice and, although he'd love to, he'd be too busy to help look tomorrow but Rincewind has nothing to do, so he'll help. Rincewind looked up quickly.

"What? No! I'm not going back to the Shades!" he clung to his hat with both hands, just in case.

"Ook, ook."

"_I_ don't care about the space-time continuinuum, why do I have to help??"

"Ook." the Librarian said, with a tone of finality. Rincewind looked miserable, but Avalina got the feeling he'd be helping tomorrow.

She left the Library and headed out into the city. Avalina had a good memory and back tracked along the path Reg had shown her a hundred years ago. She got to the watch house, bit her lip nervously, and went in. She felt very out of place and, overall, very visible, like everyone was staring at her. There was hardly anyone about though, which was a blessing, and the few who were there weren't paying much attention to her. She went up to the desk and, thankfully, Carrot was on desk duty. She sighed with relief. Carrot was famously easy to like and he'd already met her. She wasn't sure how to get his attention.

"Um." Carrot looked up.

"Oh, it's you. How's your head?"

"Better." Carrot appeared to be frowning in thought. "Something wrong?"

"Hmm. No, not really. I don't think I know you. What's your name?"

"Avalina." She almost expected him to say something like 'Weird name'. That was how most people reacted. He didn't.

"Hello Avalina, I'm Captain Carrot."

"I know." Avalina wished she hadn't said it. It would probably only make things worse. "Um. Look," she continued, pretending she hadn't said it. "I've got no where to stay and well, policemen help people right? Do you know somewhere I could stay for a few nights? I've got no money or anything..." Avalina looked down at her shoes, starting to realise just how bad this could be. This was Ankh-Morpork! No one would take her in with no money. She was getting closer and closer to a night on the street. Carrot looked at her for a while.

"I'll be right back." he said, and headed up the stairs. Avalina waited at the desk, feeling like a fool. At least she was wearing neutral sort of clothes, so no one paid her much attention. She couldn't imaging what would happen if she'd been wearing one of her shirts that said something. Carrot returned after about ten minutes, smiling.

"We've got a few spare rooms here, and Vimes says it's alright for you to stay in one of them, but only for the night. You'll have to find different lodgings tomorrow." Avalina grinned with relief.

"Thank you," she paused a second, wondering how to address him "Captain."

He showed her a vacant ex-bedroom, still with a bed in it and a wardrobe at the back. She thanked him again and he left her to poke around the almost empty room. It was properly dark now. A whistle blew and the noise and activity from below increased. _Must be a shift change_ Avalina thought. She looked in the wardrobe, wondering if she could get to Narnia from here, it had been that strange a day. It was empty, except for a mirror inside the door, which she looked in. The light from a lamp outside the window revealed a pale face, still with mud on it. Her was a mess and she generally looked either crazy or like a beggar. Maybe both. Sighing, Avalina flopped onto the hard bed and prepared to spend the night here. She didn't think of her family. If she did, she might have burst into tears and it would all get too much. Eventually, she fell asleep.


	8. Realisations

The next morning Avalina headed back to the university. It was quite early, but she hadn't been able to sleep well. She waited outside the library as the day warmed up and noticed the Smell. She had heard about the smell of Ankh-Morpork, but actually _smelling_ it was entirely different. Ugh, it was awful. Why hadn't she noticed it yesterday? _Probably too busy panicking..._ she thought.

She tried to avoid breathing in, but gave up after a while. _It's like Rotorua, s_he told herself, _You'll get used to it soon enough... _That almost got her thinking about home, but then nine o'clock began around the city, and her thoughts were lost in the din. The library opened, and the Librarian poked his face out.

"Ook." he said, pulling her in gently. The smell wasn't as strong in here, which was a blessing. The Librarian took her over to his desk, where Rincewind sat, hunched miserably. "Ook, ook. Ook, eek. Ook." Avalina frowned in translation.

"Damn, I got some of that. We're going back to the Shades and... something..."

"We're to go back to the Shades and look for the paper some more, expanding our search to include Sweetheart Lane and the nearby alleys, but only around where you came out of L-space. If we don't find it, we'll look again tomorrow, unless you want to rip the time-space continuinuum or stay here forever." Avalina grimaced at that last bit, remembering that she had to find somewhere other than the watch house to stay tonight.

Rincewind and Avalina left the Library and went back out into the stink. Avalina wrinkled her nose. It hadn't gotten any better. They walked in silence for a while before curiosity overcame Rincewind, which was most unusual.

"So, where are you from anyway?" he asked.

"I don't know if you'd believe me."

"Try me."

"I'm from Roundworld." Rincewind paused for a moment.

"You mean the little planet that sits on the mantelpiece in my office?"

"Yeah, that one."

"I didn't think you could get off it... well, not to get here anyway."

"But you can go from here to there, right? Besides, L-space goes everywhere."

"How do you even know about L-space?"

"On Roundworld, Discworld is just a story. A very popular story, but a story none the less. And there's a couple of stories about the Science of Discworld, all about Roundworld and what you did to it."

"But, Psyence is a Roundworld thing. There's no psyence on the Disc."

"Rincewind, you are very short-sighted. Don't you know what Hex is?"

"Hex is magic. Just... a different sort of magic." He paused again, frowning. "I don't think I told you my name..."

"Like I said before, the Disc is a story on Roundworld. You're quite a common character. Plus, the hat gives you away." Rincewind stopped walking.

"Wait... you mean, all of my... _adventures_," he shuddered at the word, "are written down in books in your world? For _fun?_"

"Oh yes. They're quite funny too."

"_FUNNY???"_

"Yup."

"So, you're telling me, that in your world, which is on my mantelpiece, I'm just a character in a story? And I have _adventures_ because someone writes stories about me??"

"Could be. But, it might be that you have the adventures and, somehow, someone hears about them on Roundworld and writes them down. It could be that you have adventures because of the books, or there could be the books because you have adventures." Rincewind looked blank, in a horrified sort of way.

"I'm never leaving the university again." he swore.

"You're outside it now." Rincewind sort of screwed up his face, trying to think of a way around this.

"Now doesn't count!" he said eventually and started walking again. Avalina smiled to herself.


	9. The Nature of Narrativium

I realise my chapters are gradually getting longer, and such. I can't help it! D= I sort of ramble a bit when I'm writing. But at least I'm writing quick, right?

Anyway, here's a short one, 'cos my brain's not working properly.

---

They reached the Shades. Fortunately there was no one around, which was odd for the Shades, but good. Avalina took charge because Rincewind was, once again, a mass of nerves, twitching and whimpering at every shadow. Silly really, no one would attack a wizard, even one as useless as Rincewind. She pointed out an alley for him to look in, which he didn't. Sighing, Avalina told him could look out in the street, and she would look in the alleys. Rincewind gratefully began looking in the open while Avalina, against her better judgment, started poking around in the alleys.

The day passed slowly, the sun crawling up the sky and gently slipping down again. Evening appeared at last, with no trace of paper and, although there was some interesting graffiti around the place, Avalina doubted it was very important. She decided it was best to leave before it got truly dark. The problem of a place to stay loomed up again, but she pushed it aside, retrieved Rincewind and they headed back to the university. The day had been without incident, which was incredibly lucky considering where they were.

After some searching, the discover of an abandoned newspaper, conveniently open at the right page, getting lost, getting found, and asking for directions three times, Avalina found herself with lodgings at a Mrs Cotton's house. The moment she'd found the newspaper she knew it would be alright. Narrativium seemed to be working on her side tonight.

"There's an empty room upstairs, third on the left." Mrs Cotton had told her, looking a little suspicious, but Avalina expected she looked at everyone like that. Avalina went up the stairs and found the room. Like the one in the watch house, it was mostly empty except for a bed and a wardrobe, although this room was brighter. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Avalina called. Mrs Cotton stepped into the room, the suspicious look gone and replaced by something approaching motherly concern.

"You seem like a nice girl, and well, you said you had no money, so I thought you might have the first week free. If you'll be staying?" Avalina suppressed a sigh of relief. A week free! She'd be out of here in a week, surely?

"Thank you Mrs. Cotton, that's very kind of you." Mrs Cotton smiled oddly and left the room again. Avalina relaxed. Good old narrativium. She'd be fine. Avalina slept, happier than she had been since she wandered into L-space.

A sound disturbed her in the middle of the night. There were a lot of sounds in Ankh-Morpork at night, but this one was closer. A door slammed downstairs, and there was the faint sound of voices, which quickly elevated into shouts, muffled enough to make the words indecipherable, but clearly an argument. Avalina wondered if she should do something, but the yelling stopped and the night was quiet again. She couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.


	10. Ominous Occurences

_An update at last :D Sorry for the wait, couldn't think what to do xD Might be a while before the next one for the same reason._

---

Avalina woke on her third day on the Disc. Once again she dragged Rincewind out to the Shades to hunt for a paper of any sort. Once again, their search came up with nothing. It was depressing.

Avalina trudged back to Mrs. Cotton's place. She was tired of being here, where everything was mud. She hadn't changed clothes since she got here, and only took off her shoes at night. She felt very dirty and resolved to ask Mrs. Cotton about somewhere to wash at some point. But not tonight, she was far too tired. She dragged herself up to her room and flopped onto the bed. After a few minutes she pulled off her shoes and threw them in a corner. Something caught her eye.

On the bottom of one of her shoes, apart from the mud, was something white. Well, white-ish. She got up and pulled it off. It was a piece of paper. Having seen no other pieces of paper at all while searching, this one surely had to be it.

"Yeeeees!!!!" Avalina whispered, not wanting to wake anyone. She did a little dance of happiness and unfolded the paper. It looked like a draft of the ad she'd seen for Mrs. Cotton's boarding house. How odd. How could this be important at all? Maybe this wasn't the right paper... Ah well, she'd ask the Librarian in the morning. He'd know.

---

In another place, Vimes was enjoying his daily meeting with the patrician.

"How are things coming along? Any progress?" Vimes was sure he already knew, but it was the kind of thing he did.

"No, sir. Whoever it is is very clever, making full use of scent bombs and timing everything perfectly so we have no chance of catching them. Not yet, at least."

"Indeed. Well, I'm sure you'll get there eventually." The silence told him that Vetinari was waiting for something.

"Two more bodies were found yesterday. Both killed the same way as the others."

"I see. And nothing new from them?"

"No, sir." Again, something more was expected. "Whoever is doing this is laughing at us sir. I can tell." Vetinari raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm sure you have some investigating to do. Good day." Vimes nodded and left the Oblong Office. He headed back to his office in the watch house and sat at his desk. The recent wave of crime had been exhausting the watch. Almost every day another body or two were found. No one knew who they were, not even Carrot, which told him that they were new to the city. A lot of young people, coming for a fresh start and a better life in the city, all ending up dead. It was things like this that made him want a drink. But the worst thing, the _worst_ thing, was the complete lack of anything at all. There was no evidence no _clues_.

Vimes was, in principle, against clues because of how easy they were to make and how often they misled you, but anything would be good right now. _Anything_. A scrap of cloth, a footprint, a piece of paper saying 'YES, I, Joe Bloggs at no. 12 Easy Street killed this corpse dead'. Some hint, however faint, of what the hell was going on. Unfortunately, they could only wait for another corpse to turn up.


	11. What To Do

The next morning, Avalina sprang out of bed, eager to get home. She grabbed the paper and raced to the Library which, rather anticlimactically, wasn't open yet. Avalina sighed and thought about knocking. She decided against it on the principle that an ape woken before he's ready won't be a happy ape. So, she waited until an audible rustling announced that the Library was waking up, and the door opened a crack. The Librarian's simian face peered out.

"Ook?" Rincewind had been right, she'd learned to speak Ook very fast.

"I found something, but it doesn't seem very important. If this isn't it, I don't think we're going to find it because we haven't seen any paper around there at all, and it's probably been recycled somehow..."

"Ook."

"So, is this it?"

"Ook." He waved her in and wandered over to some books. On the edges, the Library was fairly normal and undistorted by L-space but, when the Librarian brought the paper near, the books seemed to shiver and there was an almost visible hole into, Avalina guessed, L-space. The Librarian nodded.

"So, now what, I can go home?"

"Ook, ook." The Librarian told her, carefully explaining that, while he would like to get her home, the paper was clearly very important somehow and he needed to find out how. Once he found out and, possibly once the paper wasn't important anymore, _then_ she could go home.

"But, if the paper isn't important anymore, won't the hole close and leave me stuck here anyway?"

"Ook."

"Really? Five minutes? So, once... whatever this is, is sorted out, I'll have five minutes to get back here and get into L-space, where you'll show me the way home?"

"Ook." Avalina, while being hugely grateful to the ape, was nevertheless, disappointed. Whatever it was about this paper... it could take a few days to find out why it was important, and then a few days to resolve it... she could be here for another week! She suppressed a sigh.

"Alright, where do we start?"

Eventually it was decided that they should go to the Watch, because "I like the Watch." Avalina said. The Librarian shrugged.

"Ook." he said, meaning that was as good a place to start as any. Satisfied, Avalina headed off to Pseudopolis Yard with the Librarian following.


	12. To The Watch

_Whoo, yeah! Chapter 11! I do believe this story is nearing it's end :)_

At the watch house, Avalina's nerves almost got the better of her. There was something about being so near her most favourite characters that set of the butterflies in her stomach. Of course, the Librarian was among her favourties too, but he was really just an orangutan. He was sort of normal, once you got to know him, and she guessed the Watch would be the same. Just before she went in, she turned to the Librarian.

"One question. Do any of these guys know about L-space?"

"Ook." he said, shaking his head.

"Oh. That's going to make things a bit tricky."

"Ook?"

"I'll think of something, I'm sure." she took a deep breath and went in. She relaxed a little when she realised the Librarian was following her. At least she wouldn't be alone, and people respected him. She wished she had her MP3 player, or even just her guitar. Music was so calming.

Avalina walked up to the main desk, and paused. She hadn't really though beyond here. What should she say? The person at the desk wasn't a watchman she recognised right away. It was a dwarf. He (possibly) looked up at her.

"Yes?" he asked politely.

"Uhhm... I, uh, I found this piece of paper and I think it's really important." Avalina said, vaguely waving the paper.

"Can I see it?" Avalina put the paper down on the desk.

"This doesn't look important to me, it's just a draft of an ad for Mrs Cotton's boarding house."

"It's definitely really important." The dwarf looked at her oddly.

"Ook."

"Oh, Mister Librarian, I didn't see you there. _Really_ important you say?"

"Ook." The dwarf sighed.

"Alright, I'll ask someone to have a look at it." The dwarf spotted Carrot across the room. "Hey, captain!" he called. Carrot came over and saw Avalina.

"Oh, Avalina. Find somewhere to stay?" Avalina nodded and then grabbed the paper.

"This is a really important piece of paper." she said, waving it about again. Carrot took it from her and looked at it, reading it carefully.

"Are you sure it's important? It doesn't look important."

"It's really important, isn't it?" she said, nudging the Librarian. He nodded.

"Ook. Ook." Carrot frowned a little.

"Are you sure it's not, magically important? Because we don't deal with that kind of thing here." Avalina bit her lip and looked at the Librarian, who shook his head.

"Ook."

"Oh, so it's normal important, because you'd know if it was magically important." A thought seemed to occur to him. "Say, you're new to the city. Has anyone tried to kill you recently?" Avalina raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"No. Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"I don't suppose they would want to kill you. It was just a thought. Where are you staying?"

"At Mrs. Cotton's." Carrot seemed to consider this.

"Do you know who else stays there?"

"No one I've ever heard of," Avalina answered truthfully. "and there's never many staying there. I'm sure it gets less every day..." Carrot seemed deep in thought. He'd been staring at the paper the whole time.

"I think," he said eventually, "I think we need to take this to Commander Vimes."

_To anyone who still cares about this story: I promise I'm working on it! I would have had it done already but, well, school. Bleh. I'll try and finish soon :)_


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